The incompetence of reporting continues to amaze me. This story says in its headline that one of Kerry's crewmates is upset about the Swift Boat ads, but when one reads the story, it turns out to be about Rassman, the Green Beret that Kerry pulled out of the water (hint, reporter Robynn Tysver, Kerry's "crewmates" were in the Navy).

It's a minor thing, but it's just another example of reportorial sloppiness (and sloppiness that somehow always, always, redounds to the benefit of Kerry).

[Update a few minutes later]

Whoops, spoke a little too soon. The dam may really be starting to break. Newsweek has a piece on the Kerry's Bronze. It's the first investigative piece that I've seen that actually discusses what happened, instead of who is making the charges. In fact, they refreshingly point this out themselves:

Obscured by all the political maneuvering is the truth of what really happened 35 years ago.

Yes, heaven forbid anyone actually dig into that.

As Ed Morrissey points out, this story is problematic for Kerry's narrative, because his helmsman is now admitting that he can't remember whether there was fire from the shore when they pulled Rassman out of the water. The Swift Boat Vets all claim that there was not. This is a key element on which the award of the medal was based. Ed also points out other inconsistencies with the Kerry version about boat damage, and says that Kerry and Edwards are hypocritically squealing like schoolgirls over this.

The Washington Post also has a piece on what the various people say happened about the actual event. It tends to come out better for Kerry, but it isn't an obvious hit piece like the New York Times article/editorial. They clearly did some real research on the event. Look at:

Both Sides Flawed on Swift Boat Accounts

Interestingly, the headline above, which is on the front page of the web site and how it appeared in our local rag isn't the same as the current title on the web article page itself. Funny how they change things ...

My view is that we will never know what actually happened. Eyewitness accounts are notoriously flawed, and in tense situations I've been in, especially one EXTREMELY tense one, some of my memories were provably wrong.